This is one of the concerns we brought up to our Pediatrician a few weeks ago. She was concerned about PICA (very low iron in the blood, makes you crave weird non-food items) and had his hemoglobin (and lead since he's eaten paint in our house and sand/dirt from outside) and his results came back normal (11.4 UL/G- I think those are the letters that go with it, the number I know for sure). (His lead came back within safe levels too- a 5.) So at this point there isn't a medical explanation for his behavior.
(Eating chalk!)
Now we wait and see about our referrals- we have one, possibly two that'll help us to find out what we're dealing with. The developmental pediatrician and Early Intervention. But to me this seems like a sensory issue, whether through taste or texture. A few other things that point me in this direction- and these have to do with real food- he won't eat root vegetables that are cooked (soft), that includes mashed potatoes (like any kid he will eat french fries, as long as their not thick cut/steak fires/jo-jo potatoes), sweet potatoes, carrots, yams, parsnips, etc or eggs (cooked anyway). He'll eat most of them raw (no I don't normally feed my dc raw potatoes but C recently grabbed one and started eating it). He doesn't like a whole lot of carby foods- he's only recently started eating cereal, bread, and crackers. He's developed a taste for spicy foods and (my stomach rolls on this one!) hot and spicy pork rinds (my dh is from the South- pork rinds are his thing). The spicier or sweeter the food the more he'll eat. Too bland- it goes to the dog.
(Eating sand)
I know some of this is normal, I've had 5 dc before him, and more than a fair share of picky eaters and there's still the possibility he'll grow out of it but a few answers to the questioning looks I can get while out at playgroups and playgrounds would be nice. "Hey my kid just eats crayons" isn't cutting it anymore.
(Eating snow)
Update: it's been 2 years since I wrote this post, and C still eats non-food items and avoids the same foods in this post. Not long after this post we saw a Developmental Pediatrician, was evaluated by EI Early Intervention, and saw a sleep specialist. EI and the Dev. Ped. all saw, and said SPD (sensory processing disorder) and he was given a small amount of OT. He still sensory seeks but we all have developed ways of coping.
ReplyDeleteAlso the sleep specialist did a different iron test, not the normal one, but one that tests different levels. His came back pretty low, and was put on iron supplements. It was also supposed to help with sleep issues, we never saw results there. But by 3 his iron was normal and has remained normal without supplements and with a normal diet.